Liverpool prepare for emotional farewell at Diogo Jota funeral | OneFootball

Liverpool are preparing to bid an emotional farewell to Diogo Jota at the forward’s funeral in Portugal on Saturday.

The club, as well as fans and football as a whole, are in mourning after the 28-year-old Portugal international and his brother Andre Silva were killed in a car crash in Spain in the early hours of Thursday.

Mohamed Salah, one of the last players to share his grief on social media, admitted he was dreading returning to the club in the wake of Jota’s shock death.

Some players were due back on Friday to begin the preliminaries of pre-season testing, but the first tranche of a phased return was postponed as everyone at the club continues to try to come to terms with the tragedy.

“I am truly lost for words. Until yesterday, I never thought there would be something that would frighten me of going back to Liverpool after the break,” Salah wrote on social media.

“Team-mates come and go but not like this. It’s going to be extremely difficult to accept that Diogo won’t be there when we go back.

“My thoughts are with his wife, his children, and of course his parents who suddenly lost their children.

“Those close to Diogo and his brother Andre need all the support they can get. They will never be forgotten.”

It is believed a flight to Portugal has been chartered by the club. Reports in Portugal say the players, most of whom are still on summer holiday, are expected to attend, but Liverpool have yet to confirm arrangements.

Mourners gathered at a wake in Portugal on Friday, ahead of the brothers’ funeral at the Igreja Matriz de Gondomar in Sao Cosme at 10am on Saturday.

Initially held in private for family – Jota leaves a newly-married wife Rute and three young children – it was later opened up to the public, with hundreds queuing around the 17th-century church.

Liverpool sporting director Richard Hughes was among a number of club staff to attend the chapel, along with Manchester United’s Portugal international Diogo Dalot.

Nottingham Forest’s Jota Silva, born in Gondomar, and Jota’s former Wolves and Portugal team-mate Joao Moutinho were also among the mourners, with the president of the Portuguese Football Federation Pedro Proenca and Porto president Andre Villas-Boas also visiting.

The country’s president Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and prime minister Luis Montenegro both attended in person, while members of the Portuguese parliament paid tribute to the two brothers.

Some members of the public embraced and cried before entering the venue as floral tributes of yellow and white and candles were laid by a tree outside.

People held service sheets featuring pictures of both brothers, the largest one showing Jota smiling in his Liverpool shirt and making a heart sign with his hands.

At Anfield, where a temporary shrine has built up, thousands have left flowers, shirts, scarves and cards.

A tearful former Liverpool captain and team-mate, Jordan Henderson, was among those present on Friday, laying flowers and taking a moment to read some of the tributes after signing a book of condolence available in the Anfield Road stand.

“Jots it was a pleasure to share a pitch with you but more importantly a friendship. All the laughs we had off the pitch and trying to find ways to wind milly (James Milner) up and get him fined, which we never could,” the England midfielder wrote on Instagram.

“Taking pictures of me asleep on the bus travelling then sending them to me later. You always wanted to have a laugh and were a pleasure to be around.

“I know how much Rute and your family meant to you and I know you will always be looking down on them. Thank you for everything you brought into this world, we will all miss you.”

An Everton delegation comprising Portugal-born strikers Beto and Youssef Chermiti and former midfielder Ian Snodin also attended Anfield to pay their respects and lay wreaths.